5pm

British death toll rises to 40

The British death toll from the tsunami disaster increased to 40 today, with five more deaths confirmed in Sri Lanka, the Foreign Office said.

There are now 29 confirmed British deaths in Thailand, eight in Sri Lanka and three in the Maldives, but the number of British deaths could rise to more than 100, with dozens still unaccounted for.

Two tracing experts working for the British Red Cross were travelling to Sri Lanka today to spend a month helping the search for people of all nationalities who are still missing.

Christin Nazari and Kevin Studds will provide mobile satellite phones so that anyone found alive and safe can call their relatives to set their minds at rest.But they are also prepared for the gruelling task of breaking bad news to families when bodies are found.

Mr Studds, 41, from London, said: "Our job is to bring family news to separated loved ones. "We hope to make it easier for family members to learn news of their relatives.

"We're aware that at times this will mean breaking bad news but sometimes the certainty of knowing is preferable to not knowing."

Mr Nazari, 32, from Brighton, said: "Finding out about their loved ones - even if the news is bad - allows individuals to go on to the next stage of grieving and find closure, whereas not knowing means being left with an awful uncertainty."

Where it is not possible to contact relatives using satellite phones, people will be asked to write down their names and personal details on forms which will be stamped "alive and well".

They will then be forwarded to a relative's address or posted on the International Committee of the Red Cross's special website for those concerned about missing loved ones.

Missing Briton phones home

Meanwhile, a Briton feared dead when his passport was found on the body of a dead man stunned his family when he phoned home and wished them a happy new year.

The Lothian and Borders police had taken DNA samples from Allister Purves' relatives on Friday to confirm officials' belief that he was dead.

But the 30-year-old from Port Seton, East Lothian, prompted tears of joy yesterday as he made a 15-second call from a rescuer's satellite phone in the Andaman Islands - a remote Indian Ocean archipelago devastated by the tsunami.

A family friend, Gordon Kidd, said the computer programmer's parents, Bob and Margaret, expected bad news when the telephone rang at about 9am yesterday.

"Bob answered the phone and Allister's first words were, 'Happy New Year, you old bastard'," he told the Sunday Mail.

Mr Kidd said he believed the person found with Mr Purves' passport may have discovered it himself and taken it for safekeeping as an important document.

Police investigate email hoaxes

In a macabre twist to the tragedy, a 40-year-old man is being questioned in connection with a series of hoax emails sent to friends and relatives of people missing following the tsunami, police said. The emails were sent to people who placed appeals for information on the Sky News website. The messages, which purported to be from the "Foreign Office Bureau" in Thailand, told them their loved ones were dead.

A man was initially arrested in Lincolnshire on New Year's Eve in a joint operation between Scotland Yard and Lincolnshire Police. Computer equipment was also seized and the man was released on bail pending further inquiries.

Scotland Yard said the man had been rearrested at around 11pm last night. He was taken to a central London police station this morning for further questioning and remains in custody.

In a statement Sky News said: "Prior to the hoax, Sky News warned users about possible abuse and has since reinforced this message. Sky is disgusted at the abuse of this messageboard, designed for friends and relatives caught up in the tsunami disaster."

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